The Temple of Malatesta, whose official name is the Church of St Francis, is the cathedral in Rimini. And its popular name was given to Sigismund Pandolfo Malatesta, who in the mid-15th century initiated the restoration of the church. mid-15th century initiated the restoration of the church. The project to restore the church the famous Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti worked on the restoration project.
The Gothic church of San Francesco was built in the 13th century and originally belonged to the Franciscan order. It had a rectangular shape with no side chapels chapels, with a single nave and three apses. It's likely that the central apse was frescoed by the great Giotto, who is also credited with the crucifixion, now in the second chapel on the right.
Malatesta commissioned the architect Alberti to remodel the church and transform it into a kind of mausoleum for himself and his wife Isotta degli Atti. The work itself was carried out by the Verona architect Matteo di Andrea de Pasti. Alberti designed the construction of a dome similar to the dome of the famous Roman Pantheon, which was to be one of the largest in Italy. However, for some for reasons that are unclear, Matteo never built the dome. Nor was the upper part of the façade the upper part of the façade, which according to Alberti's design was to have a an end wall with a pinnacle. In 1460, after being excommunicated from the Church. turned against the mighty Malatesta, and his mausoleum remained unfinished. Two false arcades on the side of the main entrance to the church the sarcophagi of Sigismund and Isotta, but they remained empty.
Today, the church of St Francesca immediately attracts attention with its luxurious marble façade. magnificent marble façade, decorated with sculptures by Agostino di Duccio (presumably) and Matteo de Pasti. The large arcades on the sides are similar in shape to the Roman aqueducts. Roman aqueducts. In each of the false arched openings are sarcophagi, reminiscent of the Gothic tradition of burial. The main portal has a triangular pediment, and geometric decorations complete the tympanum.
Inside, to the right of the entrance, one can see seven chapels with the tombs of prominent inhabitants of Rimini, including the philosopher Gemistus Pletho. Just outside the entrance is the the tomb of Sigismund Pandolfo Malatesta. The chapel next to it bears the name of St. Sigismund, the patron saint of the military (Malatesta himself was a famous condottier). Here here you can also see a fresco by Piero della Francesca depicting Malatesta kneeling before the saint. kneeling before the saint. In the next chapel, the Capella degli Angeli. is the tomb of Isotta and Giotto's crucifix, probably painted by him during his stay in Rimini in 1308-13. in Rimini between 1308 and 1312. The Chapel of the Capella dei Pianetti is dedicated is dedicated to St Jerome and is decorated with zodiac signs by Agostino di Duccio. In it an interesting 15th-century panorama of Rimini. And in the Capella della Pieta the bodies of some of Malatesta's ancestors are buried.
Since the Church of San Francesco is literally overflowing with various references to the Malatesta and his family's history, many contemporaries regarded it as a sort of of a religious temple. Pope Pius II, Sigismund Pandolfo's worst enemy, called it "full of pagan deities and blasphemous things".
